Overview

Virginia Tech, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, will host the German Fulbright Summer Institute from August 26, 2022 to September 17, 2022. The four-week Summer Institute is offered through a grant awarded to Virginia Tech, through its Cranwell International Center, by the German-American Fulbright Commission, and is designed for undergraduate students from Germany’s Universities of Applied Sciences.

The Summer Institute includes a unique and innovative core academic component offered through Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, along with a number of experiential co-curricular components with partners like the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technoloy (ICAT) (check out the ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day  for a celebration of creativity and innovation at the convergence of science, engineering, arts and design). More details, including a final schedule, will be forthcoming prior to the program start. 

An integral part of the Summer Institute will be introducing students to the American college campus experience as well as providing a perspective on the diverse range of activities that are part of US higher education, including centers for the performing and visual arts as well as entrepreneurial innovation, research institutes, scientific laboratories, campus farm operations and agricultural extension programs, student life organizations, community outreach, recreational and professional sports, etc.

We will also provide opportunities for German Fulbright students to engage with US students to build relationships with peers. More specifically, we will virtually connect the German Fulbright students with undergraduate students engaged this summer in undergraduate research at Virginia Tech.  German Fulbright students will take lab tours with American student hosts, attend the American students’ symposium  at which their summer’s research is presented, and be offered opportunities to engage in professional development opportunities with American students. During the Summer Institute itself, we plan to have Virginia Tech graduate students matched with German Fulbright students for daily conversations.. 

The co-curricular aspects of the program will complement the academic content of the “Create! Ideation & Innovation” course. They will allow for additional dialogue on and experimentation with the course themes, with breakout one-on-one or small group conversations with peers throughout.

Through a collaboration with the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs, German Fulbright students will be able to attend events such as the Startup Hokies Fall Kickoff, Ignite Pitch Event, and Startup Weekend. These events will complement the students' classroom learning and will deepen their understanding of entrepreneurship.